Derrick-rotating means



Feb. 10, 1931. T. A. FOLEY DERRICK ROTATING MEANS Filed April 26. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 anvemtoz mas FIT 019! llllllllllllll 3G 45 In the accompanying drawings,

Patented Feb. 10, 1931 THQMAS FOLEY, or Asronm, new yon DERRICK-ROTATING MEANS Application filed April-26,

Thisinvention relates to derricks and-in particular to an apparatus for eliminating the present cumbersome method of swinging or rotating derricks without resorting to-c-a- 5, ble opera-ted bow wheels and the like.

i A particular object of my invention is to provide directly on the masts of the derrick, a turning mechanism embodying hand wheel whereby the derrick may be rotated by reason of the travel of a pinion about the periphery of an annular gear which is secured to the foot block and which is provided so that movement of the derrick from floor to floor as-the structure or work progresses and shipping and storage of the ring gear may be carried out with a minimum of labor.

A still further and equally important object of my invention is the provision of means,

Which may be hand or motor driven and 0 which, mounted upon the masts of a derrlck may be operatedto swing the derrick in any direction, the work being performed directly at the foot of the derrick which eliminates the necessity of employing some external. source of power such as the auxiliary "engine which has commonly beenemployed heretofore in revolving the derrick i A still further objectof my invention is the-provision of means whereby the derrick can be rotated at any desired speed depending upon the gear ratio, means'being also employed whereby instant change from hand driven to motor driven mechanism may be accomplished. V r

Vith the foregoing ando-therobjects in view, which will appear as the :description proceeds,1the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of-parts and in, the details of construction hereinafter described 7 4n and claimed, it being understood that changes in' the precise embodiment of the invention hereinadisclosed maybe made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit ofv the invention.

Figure 1 is 'a-view in elevation'of a derrick in connection with which. my rotating mechani-sm is employed. 1 1

F'gureQ is an enlarged section taken on the line 2?2 of -Figure s1- .and illustrates =whi'ch pass cables that were operated from a 1929. Serial No. 358,195.

more clearly the operating parts of theirotating' mechanism.

Figure'S is an enlarged section taken on the line 3.3 of Figure 2 and shows the latch which is used to retain the shifted rod or shaft in position to employ either motor or hand drive. V Figure 4 is a view in elevation looking toward the right in Figure 1, the same being en.- larged and showing vthe operating parts.

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of F gure 4 and shows a clutch operating member. 1 I Figure 6 is ayiewwin sectional elevation of the foot of thegmastshowingthe ball end thereof which permitsturning movement of the derrick, and Y I Figure 7 is a section taken on the line 77 of Flgure l and'illustrates the "construction on the gear ring. I i i Y Referring tothe drawings in detail, 5 indicatesa structural member ormembers upon which the derrick is set up in a building construction, it of course, being understood that the derrick is advanced from floor-to'fioor as the structural'st'eelwork is erected and it is supported upon the construction members by restlng upon foot. blocks 6 which may'co-nsist of a pair oftimbers. of any desired dimension which supports between them, the base or socket plate 7; This base 7 is provided: with asocket'or ball cage 8 atthe center thereof whlch is arranged to receive-and hold the ball end f the lower end of, the derrick mast 10. This derrick mast is secured in pos tion through the medium of suitable'guv wires or cables 11 and has'pivoted thereto, the boom 12 which isoperated through the medrum of suitable tackle 13 to manipulate a load of material carried onthehook 14. 7 Much d'ifiiculty and labor has attended-the swinging-0f the derrickandtheboomlQ heretofore and has necessitated the use of a peripherally grooved bull wheel around remote source of power. In order to overcome this, I have provided a mechanism which is secured directly to the mast 10.0f the derrick construction. and. whichconsists of" the sidestrapsl5 which arefsecured atione This motor "drive shaft 35 is supported in end to the mast as at 16, the projecting ends being secured to suitable channel members 17 which, inturn, are riveted or otherwise secured to the cross channels 18. These cross channels abut the mast and the channels 17 are flush with the ends thereof. The ends of the channels 17 are connected by another cross channel 19 to which is secured the mechanism base plate 20 through the medium of the bolts 21. These parts, just described, may be employed in any number, and as illustrated in Figure 1, I have used three for the mounting of the mechanism and these three, in combination with the base plate, might be termed the frame upon which the mechanism is mounted; The foot blocks 6 have secured thereto, through the medium of the bolts 22, the halves 23 of a split gear 24, whose periphery is provided with teeth over which is arranged to travel, a suitable pinion 25. The object in making the gear'24 split as at 26, is to provide for its easy transfer from one job to another or in cases where necessary to provide for its easy movement from one floor to another during the building opera tion.

The halves of the ring gear are secured together through the medium of the bolts 27 which pass through the lug provided adjacent the split portion of said gear. The bolts 22 also pass through bosses 28 cast on the internal periphery of the ring gear.

At this point, it might be noted in connection with Figure 8 that the base plate 20 may be adjusted relatively to the ends of the strip and channels 19 by inserting a shim or filler block 29 between the end of the channel 19 and said base plate 20, the purpose of this adjustment will be evident hereafter.

The plate, has secured thereto in any suitable manner, the brackets 30 which pro- ,vide journals for the vertical operating shafts 31 which is suitably retained in position in the brackets 30 through the medium of collars 32. The lower end of theshaft 31 carries the operating pinion 25 which, as hereinbefore referred to, is arranged to travel about the periphery of the ring gear. 24 with the result that the mast 10 will be rotated in either direction desired and the boom 12 may be properly positioned to carry on the work desired.

The vertical shaft 31 carries adjacent its upper end, ahelical or worm gear 33 which meshes with and is driven by a helical or worm gear 34mounted upon the upper shaft 35 which may be termed, the drive shaft.

the brackets 36' which are secured in any suitable manner to the base plate 20, one end of the shaft 35. carries the pinion 37 while the opposite end thereof carr1es a gear 38. The gear 38 is arranged to meshwith a gear 7 39 while the pinion 37 is arranged to mesh with a larger gear 40, both the gears 39' and 40 being secured to the handwheel drive shaft 41 which, through the medium of its brackets 42 is mounted upon the base plate 20. The

shaft 41 has secured to the outer end thereof, the hand wheel 43 and through the medium thereof, the derrick may be revolved manor out of mesh and performing the same operation with respect to the gears 37 and 40, so that a change of speed may be accomplished at will, it beingunderstood that, when the gear 40 is in mesh with the gear 37 the higher rate of rotation will be imparted to the Work 34 which will transfer its movement to the worm 33to cause faster operation of the gear 25 and consequently, quicker rotating movement of the derrick.

As illustrated in Figure 4, the gears 38 i and 39 are in mesh with the result that a relatively slow movement of the derrick is possible and it will be evident that operation of the hand wheel 43 through the shaft 41 and either of the gears 40 and 39 with their respective gears 37 and 38 will impart a rotary movement to the shaft 35 which, in turn, will operate the worm 34 to drive the worm 33 to cause rotation of the shaft 31 and its gear 25 thereby causing travel of the gear 25 about the periphery of the ring gear 24.

When, however, it is desired to operate the mechanism by motor, use is made of the clutch 44 which is operated for sliding movement upon the shaft 35 and which transfers the rotary motion to the shaft 35 from the worm wheel 46 which has cast or otherwise provided thereon, the clutch portion 45. The clutch 44 through the medium of the lever 47, which is pivoted to the bracket 48, is movable on the shaft 35 into and out of engagement with-the clutch portion 45. The worm wheel 46 is engaged by the worm 49'carried on the end of the motor shaft'50, the motor 51 being supported on a suitable bracket 52 secured to the base plate 20, the motor, of course, being Iii operated from a suitable source of electrical power, as is usual. As illustrated-in Figure 4, operation of the motor 49 will cause rotation of the worm 46 and the clutch 44 being in engagement with the clutch face of said worm wheel, will impart the rotary motion of the worm wheel 46 which is loosely mounted upon the shaft 35 tothe shaft 35 with the result that the worm wheel 34will cause drive through its associated parts of the pinion 25. hen, however, it is desired to operate the mechanism by hand, the clutch lever 47 is operated to throw the clutch 44 away from the clutch face 45 and the shaft 35 may then operate freely when driven by any one of the hand. operated gears on the shaft 41' after the'shaft has been moved longitudinally to bring the gear of the gears mechanism, use may be made of a latch 53 which is secured to the hand wheel 43 and is 7 arranged to drop into diametrically disposed slots formed in the end of the shaft 41 for the purpose of permitting free rotation of the shaft 41 Without revolving the hand wheel 43. The latch 53 may be supported in its raised position, as illustrated in Figure 4 through the medium of a suitable spring clip 54. Y In order that the shaft 41 may be locked in either of its adjusted positions, use is made of a free latch 55, which, as illustrated in Figfor a change of speed.

are 4, is pivoted to one of the brackets'42 and is arranged to engage the shaft 41 at either side of a fixed collar 56. In the position illustrated in Figure 4, where the drive is between the gears 38 and 39, it will be evident that the latch will have to be raised to permit the passage thereunder of the collar or disk 56 before the shaft 41 can be moved to the right in order to bring into mesh the gears 37 and 40 It will be evident, therefore, that I have provided a mechanism which is mounted directly upon the mast of a derrick construction and, which, through its operation, causes travel of a depending gear connected with the mechanism about the periphery of a split gear 24 which may be detachably secured to foot blocks forming the foundation of the derrick.

It is also evident that I have provided a means whereby the gear 25 may be adjusted relatively to the center of the split gear 24 so that any unevenness or any adjustment desired may be provided for. i 7

It is evident also that the present cumbersome method of swinging or rotating the derrick is eliminated and the mechanism is arranged to be operated either by hand or by motor and is equally adaptable to guy or stifi' legged derricks. Any desired type of motor,

either air, gas or electric may be employed and while not illustrated, may be used in connection with a reversible switch of'any well-known make so that a universal motor is provided which will operate in either dire'ction. The large, detachable hand wheel may, of course, be revolved in either direction in order to change the direction of travel of the derrick boom 12. V

While I have illustrated and described my invention with some degree of particularity, I realize that in practice various'alterations therein may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is 1. The combination with a derrick of a frame secured to the derrick mast, a support upon which said derrick mast is rotatably mounted, a split ring gear on the'support, a pinion arranged for travel about the periphery of said ring gear to cause rotation of the mast, a plurality'of shafts carried in said frame to one of which said pinion is secured, a change speed gear train operativelyconnecting said other shafts, a hand wheel for operating one of the shafts, a motor for operating another ofsaid shafts, means for disconnecting the motor drive from its respective shaft, means for disconnecting the hand wheel from its respective shaft and said hand 1 Wheel shaft being movable longitudinally to 7 change the gear speed ratio and regulate the 7 operating speed of said pinion.

2. The combination with a derrick including a mast, of a frame secured to the mast, a support for the mast, a split ring gear on the support, a plurality of shafts carried in said frame, one of which is movable longitudinally, a change speed gear train on said shafts, a hand wheel for operating said lon- Y gitudinally movable shaft, a motor drive mechanism for operating another of the shafts, a pinion carrying shaft, worm gears connecting said motor driven shaft and said pinion carrying shaft whereby said pinion may be operated over the periphery of the ring gear, and means for adjusting the pinion relatively to said ring gear.

lSigned at Long Island City, in the county of Queens and State of New York, this 20 7 day of April, A. D. 1929.

THOMAS A. FOLEY. [Ls] 

